| Chris Date | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | (1941-01-18) January 18, 1941 (age 83) Watford, England |
| Nationality | British |
| Alma mater | University of Cambridge |
| Occupation(s) | author, lecturer, researcher, and consultant, specializing in relational database theory |
| Employer | (until 1983) IBM |
| Known for | Relational database theory |
Chris John Date (born 18 January 1941) is an independent author, lecturer, researcher, and consultant, specializing in relational database theory.
Biography
Chris Date attended High Wycombe Royal Grammar School (U.K.) from 1951 to 1958 and received his BA in Mathematics from Cambridge University (U.K.) in 1962. He entered the computer business as a mathematical programmer at Leo Computers Ltd. (London), where he quickly moved into education and training. In 1966, he earned his master's degree at Cambridge, and, in 1967, he joined IBM Hursley (UK) as a computer programming instructor. Between 1969 and 1974, he was a principal instructor in IBM's European education program.
While working at IBM he was involved in technical planning and design for the IBM products SQL/DS and DB2. He was also involved with Edgar F. Codd’s relational model for database management. He left IBM in 1983 and has written extensively of the relational model, in association with Hugh Darwen.
As of 2007 his book An Introduction to Database Systems, currently in its 8th edition, has sold well over 700,000 copies not counting translations, and is used by several hundred colleges and universities worldwide.
He is also the author of many other books on data management, most notably Databases, Types, and the Relational Model, subtitled and commonly referred to as The Third Manifesto, currently in its third edition (note that earlier editions were titled differently, but maintained the same subtitle), a proposal for the future direction of DBMSs.
Works
Chris Date is the author of several books, including:
- Several volumes of Relational Database Writings: ISBN 0-201-39814-1, ISBN 0-201-82459-0, ISBN 0-201-54303-6, ISBN 0-201-50881-8.
- A Guide to the SQL standard, 4th ed., Addison Wesley, USA 1997, ISBN 978-0-201-96426-4
- What Not How: The Business Rules Approach to Application Development, 2000, ISBN 0-201-70850-7
- The Database Relational Model: A Retrospective Review and Analysis, 2001, ISBN 0-201-61294-1
- Temporal Data & the Relational Model, 2003, ISBN 1-55860-855-9
- An Introduction to Database Systems, 2004, ISBN 0-321-19784-4
- Database in Depth: Relational Theory for Practitioners, 2005, ISBN 0-596-10012-4
- Databases, Types, and the Relational Model, The Third Manifesto (with Hugh Darwen), 2007, ISBN 0-321-39942-0
- SQL and Relational Theory, 2nd Edition: How to Write Accurate SQL Code, 2011, ISBN 1-4493-1640-9.
In recent years he has published articles with Fabian Pascal at Database Debunkings.
See also
References
- Date, Chris (13 June 2007). "Oral History of C. J. Date" (PDF) (Interview). Interviewed by Thomas Haigh. Mountain View, California: Computer History Museum. p. 3. Retrieved 20 August 2023.
- "Data Management Association, January 2007 Newsletter". Archived from the original on 18 January 2017. Retrieved 3 December 2021.